1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved speed closure system for footwear and more particularly, to a speed shoelace closure system for use on an athletic shoe used for running or jogging, a military shoe or a combat shoe for soldiers, and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of closure systems for footwear are well known in the art. Thus the closure system for footwear is important to its comfort and fit. In principle, most closure systems serve to secure the shoe upper portion against the foot and in addition, to shorten its wearing operation time. Traditionally, such closure systems for athletic and other shoes have included shoelaces which are threaded through eyelets around a throat or a tongue opening in the upper portion of the shoe. The placement of the eyelet rows, particularly their distance from a point where the sole and upper portion meet, influences the effect the laces will have in cinching the upper portion against the foot. Also, the closure systems must be able to adapt to feet of various widths and to varying personal preferences about snugness of fit.
It has also been found advantageous to employ "speedlaces" in athletic shoes. "Speedlaces" employ wide shoelace openings which are larger than the uncompressed cross-section of the shoelace to permit a single pull on the end of the shoelace to easily pull the shoelace through all the openings and tighten the shoelace throughout its lacing pattern with uniform tension. One type of currently available "speedlaces" is formed of a plastic bar from which a plurality of aligned large eyelets extend. Such closure systems are shown in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 595,833 to McElroy; 872,037 to White; 1,043,003 to Faegre; 1,296,529 to Koester; 1,434,723 to Triay; 1,466,075 to Triay; 2,239,324 to Hills; 2,239,325 to Hills; 3,169,325 to Fesl; 3,333,304 to Daddona; 4,255,876 to Johnson; 4,373,275 to Lydiard,; 4,413,431 to Cavanagh; and 4,553,342 to Derderian et al.
However, such closure systems suffer from a number of difficulties such as, for example, it is complicate to operate and it is difficult to secure the shoe upper portion against the foot since the shoelace is adapted to be laced through at least some of solid eyelets and the solid eyelets are disposed a solid upper portion so that by pulling on the ends of the shoelace, the shoelace cannot easily adjust due to the friction resistance generated from a plurality of contacting areas between the shoelace and the solid eyelets and solid upper portion. Furthermore, such closure systems cannot substantially utilize the conventional footwear as well as the shoelace can be easily cut and when the shoelace cuts, the shoelace cannot be adjusted to suit the comfort of the wearer.